The question has always been "toasted or untoasted." Now the answer is "grilled."

For an ambitious cook (or recovering pyromaniac), nothing is safe from the searing hot surface of the grill—not even French toast. And now, the scene is set for another breakfast item: grilled bagels.

This game-changing preference for grilling over toasting happened, like all things, out of necessity.

I wanted a Fourth of July cookout brimming with shellfish. I wanted clams and mussels opening up, spilling their liquor, and swirling into whatever condiments my friends and I chose to pile on. And I wanted bread, crusty bread that would mop up everything.

But in the excitement of sourcing the shellfish and preparing the chili-scallion oil for drizzling, I ended up forgetting about the bread altogether.

Panicked, I drove from spot to spot with a friend, only to find that, not surprisingly (this was Fourth of July weekend, after all), all the good bread was sold out.

So I had no choice. I had to use the only bread we had on hand: a few everything bagels leftover from the morning.

I sliced the bagels open and gave the cut sides a quick slather of herb butter. I put them on the grill over indirect heat (that is, the side of the grill where there was less charcoal). I left the grill open, and soon—it happened fast—I had hot, crusty bagels with distinctive grill marks.

And you know what? As a sponge for all those shellfish juices, it really worked.

Now, you may have heard of grilled bagels before, perhaps in the context of bagel grill cheese. But don't be fooled—those are really just pan-fried bagels, and while that does sound delicious, you won't get the beautiful grill marks or the smoky flavor you get by actually throwing your bagels on the grill.

That said, you can do this indoors: just heat an oiled grill pan before toasting the bagels until charred, about 3-5 minutes. Top them with scallion cream cheese and smoked salmon, or use them for a toastier egg sandwich.

And then please invite me to brunch. This time, I promise, I won’t forget anything.